Hi, this is Dipankar. My age is 68 years. My journey with hospital acquired superbug infection started in December 2017 when I had a chronic kidney disease in one kidney called Hydronephrosis (swelling of kidney). To treat this condition, I went to one of the well-known hospitals in Vellore, Tamil Nadu. There the doctors performed a surgical procedure called Percutaneous Nephrostomy to improve the kidney function. After few days of the procedure I noticed that my urine became cloudy and I stated to feel pain in the affected kidney. I consulted my doctor and got a urine culture done. I was detected with Urine infection caused by the bacteria Pseudomonas Aeruginosa. These bacteria cause a Bio-film infection; it means there could be other bacteria inside its layers which are not detected in the culture.

I started getting multiple symptoms associated to the infection like fever, vomiting sensation, fatigue, back pain, spinal and cervical pain, burning in the urine, I had to take naps multiple times during the day and had tiredness all the time. It started to affect my work and I was unable to sit for a long time like I used to before.

As per the doctor’s suggestion I took the first course of oral antibiotics for about 15 days. After completing that, I got my urine culture done again. Unfortunately, there was no improvement in the bacterial count or the symptoms. However, the bacteria became resistant against the antibiotic. Doctor changed my medication and prescribed another oral antibiotic for 7 more days. After 7 days, I got another urine culture done, like before there was no improvement and the bacteria developed resistance against the antibiotic again. Surprisingly, the bacteria also developed resistance against couple of other antibiotics of the same group. It felt like my number of options were reducing. This time I started a course of Intravenous Antibiotic for 15 days. Next urine culture, the bacterial count was reduced a bit, but antibiotic became resistant again.

Finally, my doctor got some kidney tests done and decided to remove the infected kidney hoping that it will clear the infection. I went through the surgery, my kidney was removed and I was recovering normally. But, there was bad news waiting for me that my urine infection affected my bladder and the other kidney. My post-surgery antibiotics were continuing, along with that doctor prescribed combination antibiotic course intravenously for 7 days. Sadly, no improvement after that and all usable antibiotics that I could take with my kidney condition, were resistant and I had no options left. My doctors did not have any answer for me because it was not possible to treat my condition with available medicines. My health was worsening and I had to go back home and wait for my slow and horrible death.

My family was not ready to give up on me and started to search online for alternatives. They got to know about the phage therapy and got in touch with couple of pharma companies in India who are doing research on phages. But they were not able to help. From one of the pharma company we got to know about Eliava Phage Therapy Center, Georgia and Mr. Pranav Johri. We mailed them about my health condition and Pranav wrote back to us. With Pranav’s guidance we were able to send the sample to Georgia and get phages shipped to India. Without his help I would have never been able to get the treatment for my deadly condition.

I started my phages according to the guidelines of the Eliava doctors. Unbelievably, within 4-5 days I felt positive changes in my health. My fever went away, my body pain reduced by 50%, I felt more energetic. After 10 days I was able to start my morning walk and physical activity. It was just like a miracle for me. I completed my phage therapy in 2 months and got my urine culture done. The P. Aeruginosa bacteria was completely cleared of my urine. But at the same time I was detected with another bacteria in my urine that is Klebsiella Pneumoniae. I am now taking custom phage therapy for this bacteria. I am very hopeful that I will be able to get cured of this bacteria as well. The best thing about phage therapy is, it has absolutely no side effect and for me it is a miracle cure. I had terrible side effects from the antibiotics that is still affecting me.

Phage therapy has to be made available in all countries considering the fact that we are running out of antibiotic options and the side effect or damage caused by antibiotics. Also, the superbugs or antibiotic resistant bacteria are becoming more and more strong day by day and medical science does not have a cure for them. Thousands of people are getting affected from them every single day from the hospitals and public places and it is spreading to others. If we do not find a cure soon, we will not have any choice or hope left in near future.